Accredited Conferences

Improving End of Life Care for People with Dementia

“The number of people in the UK with dementia is increasing, with 1 in 3 people over the age of 65 now dying with dementia.” National Council for Palliative Care

“Many people do not perceive dementia as a terminal condition, and yet the life expectancy for someone with dementia in a care home is the same as for someone with metastatic breast cancer. Firstly, we know that people with dementia do poorly in terms of end of life care but have many of the same symptoms in their last days of life. A particular issue is people in care homes – the majority of whom have dementia – being admitted to hospital for the last few hours or days of their life. The second reason is mental capacity, in that there is a fear that people in the later stages of dementia lack capacity and so there is reluctance in staff to be more proactive. Yet it is precisely because people with dementia will ultimately lose capacity that the opportunity to offer advance care planning at an earlier stage must not be lost. Dementia is now considered the leading cause of death in England and Wales.” NHS England 2017

“People also said that people with dementia did not have access to the same services as those with other conditions.” A Different Ending, CQC

This conference focuses on improving end of life care for people with Dementia. Dementia is now the leading cause of death in England and Wales. In England it is estimated that around 676,000 people have dementia. In the whole of the UK, the number of people with dementia is estimated at 850,000. It is therefore essential that we focus on improving end of life care for Dementia. The conference will demonstrate, through national updates and practical case studies how you can improve end of life care for people with dementia in your service. The conference will also examine the practicalities of implementing the 2018 NICE Guidelines for Dementia in end of life care.

Benefits of attending: This conference will enable you to;

Network with colleagues who are working to improve end of life care for people with dementia

Understand the national context and developments including the 2018 NICE Guideline for Dementia which is due for publication in June 2018

Learn from the lived experience of a carer

Develop your skills in end of life care planning

Understand how you can ensure care is aligned with the preferences and needs of the dying person

and those important to them

Explore the challenges in predicting and recognising last days of life and managing uncertainty

Understand how to meet the psychological needs of people with dementia at the end of life

Improve your skills in managing the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia

Learn from established practice in improving end of life care for people with dementia in care homes, and the community - avoiding hospital admission and increasing preferred place of care

Understand on how you can improve prescribing and medicines management for people with dementia at the end of life including the role of anticipatory prescribing

Self assess and reflect on your own practice

Gain CPD accreditation points contributing to professional development and revalidation evidence